FROM 10 JUL to 7 NOV '27 | French artist and illustrator Jean Jullien will take over HALL 2 at Kunsthal Rotterdam from 10 July to 7 November 2027 with a major solo exhibition exploring how screens shape the way we see, share and experience the world. Known for his instantly recognisable visual language, Jullien combines humour with observations on everyday life, consumer culture and human behaviour.
A colourful world of drawings and installations
Jean Jullien is known for a playful visual style that moves easily between drawing, painting, sculpture and large-scale installation. His work often looks deceptively simple, using bold figures and familiar situations to comment on the small habits and contradictions of everyday life.
At Kunsthal Rotterdam, that approach will expand into a colourful, family-friendly exhibition in HALL 2. The show centres on the screens that have become constant companions in modern life, from the devices we use to observe the world to the platforms through which we communicate and share what we see.
Rather than treating screens purely as technology, Jullien looks at what happens around them: how we behave, what we notice and how our experiences change once they pass through a digital frame.
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Humour with a sharper edge
Jullien's work is often immediately funny, but the humour usually carries a more critical observation underneath. His drawings and installations examine consumer culture, social behaviour and the habits that become so ordinary we barely notice them.
That combination of accessibility and commentary has become one of the defining features of his practice. Familiar gestures and objects are exaggerated or simplified until they become strange again, giving viewers room to recognise themselves in the scene.
The Kunsthal exhibition will explore how screens influence that process of looking. It asks how we understand what happens around us, how we interact with other people and how much of daily life is now experienced through a device.
From illustration to immersive spaces
Born in 1983, Jean Jullien is a French artist and illustrator whose work spans several disciplines. His drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations all use a similarly direct visual vocabulary, allowing characters and objects to move from the page into physical spaces.
That versatility has taken his work internationally. Jullien has previously presented major exhibitions in Beijing, France, Japan and South Korea, among other locations.
At Kunsthal, visitors can expect that mix of two-dimensional illustration and larger spatial work to come together in one exhibition.
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Looking at the world through screens
Screens are so embedded in everyday life that they can easily disappear into the background. Jullien's exhibition turns them back into a subject in their own right.
The exhibition considers how we use screens to observe the world, how they influence the way we communicate and how they shape the things we choose to share. It also looks at the distance between an experience itself and the version of that experience viewed through a screen.
That subject fits naturally with Jullien's interest in behaviour. His work frequently takes something ordinary and pushes it just far enough to expose its absurdity, making the familiar feel newly visible.
When to see Jean Jullien
The Jean Jullien exhibition runs from 10 July to 7 November 2027 in HALL 2 at Kunsthal Rotterdam.
